An up card is a card dealt face up. The term is used most often in blackjack, where the dealer receives one face-up card, the up card, and one face-down hole card. The dealer’s up card is the key piece of information behind every basic-strategy decision.
Some stud variations of poker use up cards as well: players receive certain cards face up so that everyone at the table can see them. Up cards are not the same as community cards, though. Both are dealt face up and visible to all, but an up card in blackjack or stud can only be used by the person it was dealt to, while community cards can be used by every player at the table to build a winning hand.
Up cards in game interfaces
In live and RNG blackjack, an ace showing as the dealer’s up card triggers the insurance offer. Interfaces that keep the up card clearly visible throughout every decision, especially on small mobile screens, make the game easier to play.